Slovenian firm Andrada to build battery recycling plant in Hungary

Slovenia-based Andrada Group plans to build a battery recycling plant in Alsózsolca, in northeastern Hungary.

Andrada is building the world’s most sophisticated battery recycling plant in Alsózsolca, and the largest ever Slovenian investment in Hungary, with an estimated value of HUF 10 billion (EUR 26.2 million), Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook, Hungary Today reported.

According to Slovenia Times, Andrada is a company established in Hungary to recycle batteries used in electric vehicles. The founders are Slovenian entrepreneurs, experts, and automotive suppliers, including Hidria Holding manager Iztok Seljak, Peter Tibaut, battery producer TAB Mežica, and ACH Invest.

Andrada’s investment will secure the capacity to recycle 10,000 tons of batteries a year, and create 200 jobs. The company will also receive government support worth HUF 4.7 billion (EUR 12.3 million).

Szijjártó: The recycling will be done without harming the environment

The recycling of batteries will be done without harming the environment, Szijjártó said and added that Andrada is committed to environmental guidelines four times more stringent than the ones in force in Hungary.

Szijjártó stressed that Andrada’s technology, developed in Slovenia, is in line with the circular economy.

He said also that the world’s automotive industry is switching to electric vehicles and argued it is important in order to meet the world’s environmental goals.

Hungary is a world leader in the transition to electric cars, Szijjártó said and added large investments are planned in the sector in the east of the country. In his view, it will make it the second-largest producer of batteries for electric vehicles on a global scale.

Of note, BYD, CATL, Eve Power, Huayou Cobalt, and Sunwoda are already building or planning to build battery cell factories in Hungary.

Tibaut: The project has strategic importance for the Hungarian government

According to Andrada CEO Peter Tibaut, the factory will be the biggest Slovenian investment in Hungary to date and it has a strategic importance for the Hungarian government, which will support it financially.

The company will initially employ 70 tech experts and up to 200 by 2024, he added.

Andrada plans to cooperate with the University of Miskolc and the National Chemistry Institute in Ljubljana.

Andrada invited potential employees and everyone else interested in the project to attend open day events on September 26 and October 17

The lithium ion battery recycling facility planned in Alsózsolca will have modern, safe, and clean technology, Andrada said on its website.

The company claimed that it has established a secure and closed-cycle industrial process that exceeds even the stringent industrial and environmental standards of Western Europe.

Andrada’s said its new high-tech facility would be situated in an existing industrial park and have no direct or indirect negative effects on the environment.

The company invited potential employees and everyone else interested in the project to attend open day events on September 26 and October 17.